DUCATI has incurred the wrath of its
rivals and the approval of its riders by
bringing next year’s bike to this year’s
competition, at the weekend’s Dutch GP,
after taking advantage of extra testing
opportunities for the 2012 machines.
But the plan backfired somewhat
when Rossi struggled with the new bike
in qualifying, though his team found
some improvement for race day, and he
was promoted to fifth by crashes ahead
of him.
Dubbed the “GP11.1”, the bike was at
first only for Rossi, with two in his pit,
with team-mate Hayden obliged to wait
until his home GP at Laguna Seca.
With a new quick-change gearbox as
well as the chassis change, first results
were promising. Rossi was second in the
wet first free practice, fifth in the dry the
next morning. But he failed to match
the general improvement in qualifying,
slipping to 11th, almost two seconds off
pole.
Looking dejected, he admitted:
“Results were not as good as we expected.
It was not so bad in the morning but it
looks like I don’t understand the way to
ride this bike to the maximum, and how
to set it to ride with a good feeling.” He
was again having trouble getting the
tyres up to temperature, spoiling the
corner entry.
The new bike is next year’s, but for the
engine capacity. The new engine built to
1000cc rules (actual capacity unknown)
was either sleeved or destroked to 800cc.
Team chief Vittoriano Guareschi
revealed that “only the brakes, the
wheels and the front forks” are the same
from the GP11 to Rossi’s GP11.1. Most
crucial, as well as a front chassis with
revised stiffness, is the rearranged rear
suspension, with the swing-arm now
under- rather than over-slung.
Rossi and Hayden had both spoken
well of the new GP12 chassis after testing
it at Jerez earlier this year, and then at
Mugello in the days after the last GP at
Silverstone.
The idea of converting the GP12 to
next year’s rules hatched in the weeks
after the first test, and the GP11.1 had
been essayed by test-rider Franco
Battaini at Mugello while Rossi was
testing the GP12 after Silverstone. Only
then was the decision taken to race it at
Assen.
Ducati brings tomorrow’s bike today ...
SECOND Marlboro Ducati rider
Nicky Hayden also got an upgrade
for Assen – a ‘Step Two’ chassis with
further changes to the stiffness ratio.
But the new bike was consigned to
the back of the pit, after a cancelled
free practice session left the 2006
World Champion short of time to test it.
“I tried it in the wet in the first free
session, and while you can’t push so
hard it didn’t seem to be like a big step.”
With that afternoon’s session cancelled
and an extended free session the next
morning also cut short by rain, “we
decided that qualifying wasn’t the time
to test a new chassis,” he said.
... but Hayden keeps his
new bike in reserve
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